Age: Nearly 4. How time flies!
Previous incarnation: Trattoria Lucca, the very long-running family Italian that closed in 2014.
Where exactly is it? At the top of Parkway, a street that is all openings and closures at the moment, with longtermers like Strada, Yum Chaa and Market shut, and new arrivals like Purezza and, er, Gail’s Bakery, taking root.
So what goes on there? Its mainstay is fish and chips. And top notch it is too. There’s the classic in panko breadcrumbs and – apparently most popular amongst customers – the lemon and basil in tempura batter. The restaurant has just reopened after a refurb, albeit now just occupying half of its previous surface area. The new USP is “neighbourhood fish restaurant”, which makes sense, with the wealthy denizens of Primrose Hill just seconds away. We reckon most won’t be chowing down on battered cod on a regular basis, after all.
What should I order? Well, head Chef Simon Whiteside (ex-Raymond Blanc) has been hard at work evolving the menu: choose between imaginative small plates, and other more foodie mains. Octopus (£10) was tender, although not quite charred enough, and it really needed the accompanying curried apple and fennel salad to make it sing. More noteworthy was a pretty plate of cured monkfish (main pic above, bottom right), sliced in thin discs, adorned with blobs of cauliflower puree and pleasingly pickled shitake mushrooms (inexplicably just £6).
For mains, a whole seabass was served Thai-style in tamarind and lime, smothered with parsley, spring onion and chillis: it’s like crispy duck, explained the server, as you roll yourself little pancakes, smear with spicy sambal, fill them with the white flesh, and add pickles from cute pots.
Less fiddly, and a bit easier going (if you’re worried about bones)? A thick wedge of salmon, elevated by a top-flight salsa verde made from smoked anchovies, with roasted leeks and sliced new pots. Sides are worth ordering too: mushy peas, slaw and seaweed salted chips.
The interior: Discuss. Before the refurb it was industrial and quite spacious. Now, reduced to one half of its former size (the other half will soon reopen as KooKoo, an all-day deli), it’s a little narrow. A dimmer, more atmospheric vibe would compensate for the feeling that we’re in a rather slender dining room. And the bright lights made us think ‘fast food’ rather than neighbourhood hangout. Still, there’s a petrol blue-and-grey colour scheme, and serviceable metal chairs.
And what do I drink? There are various atypical gin and vodka cocktail creations, as well as the ubiquitous craft beers and wine. We went for a peachy viognier, a little honeyed (as you’d expect) but a decent all-rounder for the various piscine mains.
What’s the service like? Very friendly, in fact.
Do say: ‘It’s another reason to visit Parkway.’
Don’t say: ‘Is this Poppies?’
